Halcyon

Change in Circumstances

It's currently early morning and Nikki is preparing the girls for their day ahead, she is currently sat at the kitchen table feeding Maddison her breakfast while Poppy sits the opposite side of Nikki eating her boiled eggs and toast. "Mummy, can I take baby to school with me?" Poppy questions her Mum as she looks at the baby born which is sat on the table. 

Nikki looks down at Maddison's bowl for a moment and takes a breath, "No sweetie, you can push it in your pushchair to school but you can't take her into school, she will go missing" Nikki sighs. 

Poppy nods and continues to eat her breakfast as her mother told her to do, Maddison continues to sit in her high chair and eat her breakfast, although finds it interesting to take what's in her mouth out in her hand and look at it before clapping her hands together, "Oh Maddie, why did you do that!" Nikki sighs at whits end with her ten-month-old daughter. 

Maddison looks up at her Mother and babbles innocently to her, "Yes sweetie, I don't want to share your mashed up egg" Nikki speaks as she pulls a face. 
Maddison reaches for her bottle of juice and begins to drink it before throwing the bottle out of the highchair and too the floor. 

Poppy gasps dramatically and jumps down off her chair and picks up the beaker cup and hands it to her mother, "Thank you sweetie," Nikki smiles tiredly as she glances over her shoulder to see Jack walking into the kitchen looking well-rested and clean-shaven. 

"You're looking happy..." Nikki puffs as she turns back to her ten-month-old who is causing chaos with her food. 
"Yeah... gotta dash, crime scene to attend too" He speaks as he takes a piece of Nikki's toast and kisses her head before grabbing his work stuff and leaving the house. 
"I love you too" Nikki sighs as she stands up and clears the plates. 

Poppy instantly notices her Mother's sadness and runs over to her and hugs her legs tightly, "Hey, what's all this in aid of?" Nikki chuckles as she looks down at Poppy. 
"Don't be sad" She sighs and Nikki smiles as she opens up the dishwasher and turns around to see Poppy carrying her plate towards Nikki with a grin on her face. 
"Thank you, sweetpea. Now let's go get you and Maddie dressed" Nikki smiles as she wipes Maddison's hands and face down before lifting her out the highchair and then carrying Maddison upstairs. 

Two hours later Nikki has just dropped Poppy at school and is now heading back home with Maddison in her buggy, on the way home she passes through the local park like normal but finds herself having to sit down on a bench to take five minutes as she feels dizzy. 
She looks at Maddison who is asleep in the buggy and sighs to herself, once she feels well enough to move she stands up and carries on home, while she walks home it suddenly runs through her mind that she is late for her period. 

She remembers that she has a spare pregnancy test at home and decides she will leave Maddison to sleep when she gets in and will take the test just to put her mind at rest. 

Once home Nikki hauls the buggy into the hallway without waking Maddison, she locks the front door and collects the post before heading into the kitchen leaving Maddison to sleep in her buggy in her hallway. She opens the medical cupboard and grabs the set of pregnancy tests from the back and heads upstairs into the bathroom. 

Nikki sits on the edge of the bath before reading through the instructions, she isn't new to this due to her past two pregnancies and many scares in the past. She takes the one set and uses it before flushing the toilet and washing her hands. 

With everything between herself and Jack at this point she really wishes that her pregnancy results come back negative. She sits on the edge of the bathtub and waits for her results to come back before she can even look at the results Maddison is crying. Nikki sighs and leaves the test on the sink and heads downstairs to soothe Maddison. 

"hey sweet princess, come on now. Mummy is here" Nikki soothes as she picks up her daughter and holds her against her hip and gently bounces her. 
Soon Maddison has calmed down and she puts her down to play, Nikki smiles happily as she admires her daughter for a moment before getting up and quickly rushing upstairs to check on her pregnancy test. 

She takes hold of the test and takes a breath before looking at it, "No!" She breathes suddenly as she sits back against the bathtub and looks at her positive pregnancy test.